Thanks to Indian gaming, tribes have emerged as major players in Washington, D.C. In the past two election cycles alone, tribes poured $13.8 million into Republican and Democrat interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But this figure doesn't...

Native Americans suffer from the highest rates of suicide but finding out why is a difficult task due to lack of studies on the mental health of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Likewise, Native Americans are all but excluded from...

A last-minute attempt to shield tribes from the effects of a controversial labor law decision was rejected by a wide margin on Friday. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona), the Republican co-chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus, sponsored an appropriations rider...

The following is the official Congressional record on the debate of the tribal labor law amendment. It was defeated by a 256 to 146 vote on Friday, June 24, 2005 [Roll Call]. Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 2...

John Herrington, the first Native American to go into space, was the keynote speaker for the Oglala Lakota College's graduation on Sunday. Herrington, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, said graduating is a major achievement. But he told students...

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-California), the chairman of the House Resources Committee, supports a settlement of the Cobell v. Norton trust fund case, a spokesperson said. Pombo has held hearings to address potential resolution of the case. In 2004, his committee...

Two gay Native Americans served as grand marshals for some of the largest gay pride parades in the country. Richard LaFortune, a Yupik from Alaska, served as grand marshal of the Twin Cities GLBT Pride Parade in Minneapolis. Randy Burns,...

The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut is asking a federal judge to delay a final decision on its federal recognition in order to allow the submission of additional evidence. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is refusing to accept new evidence...

Harvard University is refusing to grant a posthumous diploma to one of its very first Native students. Joel Iacoomes, a Wampanoag, studied at Harvard's Indian College, which was founded in 1655 to educate Native students. He would have graduated with...

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma says it will recognize the sovereignty of the Delaware Tribe if the Delaware Tribe drops its U.S. Supreme Court appeal. The Delawares were kicked off the list of federally recognized tribes by the 10th Circuit...

The chairman of the Skull Valley Goshute Tribe of Utah will be sentenced today for pleading guilty to a single count of tax fraud. Leon Bear, 49, faces up to the three years in jail and a $100,000 fine....

Although in the works for decades, the Shinnecock Nation of New York filed its land claim earlier this month in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in the Oneida Nation case. The court said the Oneidas couldn't "unilaterally"...

"For centuries, our legal system recognized, through statutes of limitation and related concepts, that it is unfair and economically destructive to hold the door open for the revival of long-dormant grievances. But in a profoundly misguided 5-to-4 decision in a...

Eddie Tullis, the longtime leader of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, says he still has a lot of work to do even though he is no longer chairman of the Alabama tribe. Tullis was re-elected to council by...

A self-proclaimed "medicine man" and his wife pleaded guilty on Friday to a host of drug charges after being arrested for possession and distribution of peyote. James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, 61, and his wife Linda, 51, claim to belong...

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has rehired not one but three former associates of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom the tribe has accused of fraud. The tribe hired Kevin A. Ring [Bio], Neil G. Volz [Bio] and Edward...

"Ralph Reed has said repeatedly that he had no direct knowledge of who financed his consulting work against gambling in Alabama, Texas and elsewhere, and that he would never knowingly take money from gambling interests. But the truth is...

After the Senate Indian Affairs Committee concluded its June 22 hearing into the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the media rushed to talk to the one person who knew the least about it: David Grosh. Grosh was the former director...

"Even by the most cynical Washington standards, the tale of the Indian tribes and the fat-cat lobbyists is a doozie. Imagine: Interested in protecting their lucrative casino gambling interests, the tribes hire top-drawer Washington influence peddlers. Nothing unusual there. In...

Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist are the latest Republicans to be drawn into the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, as reveled by documents released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The friendships between Reed, Norquist and Abramoff go back to the...

"Diogenes the Cynic is said to have wandered the streets of Athens, searching in vain for an honest man. Well, we found one -- 2,400 years later. In Washington, of all places. That's rare enough to qualify for the...

Days after taking office, the new leadership of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana fired a tribal court judge and five attorneys and is moving to regain control of its law enforcement department. The tribal council fired Judge T.J. Davis for...

"The most obvious cell phone offense is "driving while talking" or "inattention blindness." You take your eyes off the road to dial or to look up a number and find yourself in the ditch or rear-ending the car ahead. Also,...